Q: What first led you to stand up for people who blow the whistle on wrongdoing?
A: Because “of, by, and for the people” is a founding principle of American self-governance, it implies that the government serves the people rather than the other way around.
This fundamental premise serves as the foundation for how I approach representative government.
People from Iowa are my clients. That entails that I make a concerted effort to maintain communication with the people who elected me.
I am curious as to what is going through their heads and what issues are keeping them up at night. That also means I maintain a stranglehold on the purse strings and don’t let go easily.
Too many people in Washington, D.C. believe that the federal treasury is a cash cow that can be milked to pay for spending that is not limited in any way.
As they make their way through the vast federal bureaucracy, taxpayer monies are at risk of being frittered away due to fraudulent activity, inefficient spending, and poor management if there is not adequate oversight.
capable of detecting misuse of public monies that have been allocated by Congress for national security, health care, pandemic relief, and other purposes.
I try to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the government, and this includes reducing cost overruns at the Pentagon as well as unnecessary expenditure on things like coffee cups that cost $1,300 and toilet seat lids that cost $10,000.
There is no doubt that the information that is provided to my office by whistleblowers assists me in performing my job duties of preserving taxpayer monies, veteran’s programmes, and nuclear safety.
It takes a lot of courage for people to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, and those who do so deserve a lot of respect.
Because of this, I’ve been leading a battle to get safeguards and incentives for whistleblowers written into law so that they may come forward without worrying about being punished or humiliated in any way.
According to the Department of Justice, the False Claims Act is one of the most essential instruments that the federal government possesses in its arsenal to identify fraudulent activity and dissuade individuals from defrauding government programmes to line their own wallets.
Since my amendments to the False Claims Act were passed into law in 1986, the amount of money recovered through settlements and judgments has exceeded more than $70 billion.
As a result, untold amounts of money belonging to taxpayers have been saved that otherwise would have been lost due to fraud.
In recent years, the False Claims Act has been utilised to combat and disrupt unlawful kickbacks, payment schemes, and unnecessary medical services that defraud federal health programmes such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.
These types of scams are perpetrated by individuals who are seeking to defraud the government.
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act were specifically responsible for the recovery of $1.6 billion for the fiscal year 2021.
The provision that I authored in 1986 gives those individuals who blow the whistle on wrongdoing and put their jobs and livelihoods on the line the authority to do so.
If the government is successful in a qui tam action, the whistleblower will be awarded a percentage of the money recovered.
Whistleblowers are frequently greeted with the same disdain as the person who brings a skunk to a picnic on a Sunday afternoon, and this is something that exists in every organisation.
As long as I remain a member of the United States Senate, I will continue to advocate for truth-tellers who have the bravery to disclose wrongdoing to save the money of taxpayers and strengthen government programmes that are designed to help the general public.
Why are you working to change the programme that rewards people who blow the whistle on the IRS?
A: As a result of inflation that is at a record high after 40 years, people in the United States are having trouble paying their bills, filling their gas tanks, and putting food on the table.
When you factor in taxes at the municipal, state, and federal levels, American households truly feel the financial strain.
Tax evaders who don’t pay their dues make it more difficult for honest citizens to pay their share of the bill, which is why such people exist. That’s unjust.
In 2006, I drafted the statute establishing the IRS whistleblower office. Since then, the programme has contributed to cost reductions for the government that total more than $6 billion. I’m doing everything I can to make the programme even more robust.
My bill would exempt whistleblower awards from budget sequestration and provide additional protections for whistleblowers who appeal their cases to the tax court.
This would ensure that they receive the full amount that is owed to them for coming forward with information that helped identify tax cheats and freeloaders.
My bill would also provide additional protections for whistleblowers who report wrongdoing by government officials.
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Those who are big spenders and want to boost taxes during this period of rising prices should seek ways to provide targeted tax relief while also ensuring that those who owe taxes pay the entire amount that is owed.
